Brought up in Dulwich and Enfield, Karloff was the youngest of eight children.
He never knew his father, Edward Pratt of the Indian Salt Revenue Services; he
died when Karloff was a baby. His mother also died when he was still young,
and he was largely brought up by his brothers and half-sister Emma. His eldest
brother, George, was an actor for a time, and this had an influence on the young
William Henry, who did his best to emulate his brother. He had also inherited a
sense of wander lust from his father, who had spent his final years living a romantic
life on far away islands. In 1909, Karloff sailed for Canada where he dug ditches,
laid rail track and tried acting with touring companies. The latter paid best, so he
decided to stick with it. In 1919, he moved to America and got his first movie jobs
as an extra. He worked steadily through the 20's, usually playing the villain, but not
getting any leading parts until Howard Hawks cast him as the murderous prison
barber in 'Criminal Code' (1931).

The quiet, gentle, watchful actor's sympathetic nature shone through the role that was
to make him a household name and a star, the 'monster' in 'Frankenstein' (1931). The overwhelming success of this part, to a certain degree, dictated the direction his career
was to take. The majority of his movies tended to be in the horror/fantasy gendre,
hiding his scope as an actor. In later years, though, he used this typecasting to comic
effect. 'The Raven' (1963), also staring Peter Loree and Vincent Price, is an almost
cute, black comedy about two elderly, waring magicians (Karloff and Price) who, at
one point, zap Peter Loree, turning him into raspberry jam.

Karloff did make other genre movies during this time. He played a gangster in 'Scar
Face' (1932) with Paul Muni and George Raft. He made his soft voice with its English
Public School accent and slight lisp sound sinister and menacing. It could have
detracted, but it worked well. He was also the opera singer in 'Charley Chan at the
Opera' (1936) which was totally undubbed. One of his lesser known portrayals and
one of my personal favourites is the almost autobiographical movie 'Targets' (1968).
It was Peter Bogdanovich's first outing as a director and Karloff's last in a movie. He
plays an aging actor making a guest appearance at the re-release of one of his old
movies - 'The Terror' was used for the movie scenes. The cinema is itself terrorized
by a young sniper who is randomly shooting at the audience. The Karloff character
helps capture him during the final nerve-wracking scene.

Undoubtedly though, Karloff will be remembered for his horror movie roles, mainly 'Frankenstein', but also 'The Mummy', 'The Walking Dead' and 'The Old Dark House'. Surprisingly, from the master of horror, he read a collection of stories for children that
was released on record. They are compulsive listening with that quiet, lilting voice,
almost hypnotic in nature. He can also be heard as the voice of the Grinch in the
animated 'The Grinch Who Stole Christmas'.

Karloff was married three times. First in 1923 to Helen Vivian Soule, a dancer who was professionally known as 'Polly'. They divorced in 1929. By 1932, he was married to his second wife, Dorothy Stein, a librarian in the Los Angeles public school system. They divorced in 1945. His third wife was Evelyn Helmore, Daryll Zanuck's assistant story
editor and fellow Londoner. Karloff had known her several years before marrying her in 1946. After his death, rumours erupted that Karloff had been married up to ten times. In
fact, an entire sub-life based on stories began to emerge . To date, most remain unsubstantiated.

In many ways, Karloff was typical of the era and class into which he was born. He went
to a British Public School boy, and was a fanatic cricketer, gardener and gentleman. In
1951, he and Evelyn moved to New York, frequently traveling between there and their
other home in London. Very little is known about Karloff's private life, only what he
chose to make public. He preferred his films to speak for him, and, with them, he left
us a rich legacy.